Man claims to be shot, then leaves Allentown hospital before anyone sees wound

About 3 hours after shots were reported fired in Allentown on Wednesday afternoon, a young man walked into a city emergency room saying he had been shot in the buttocks, police said.

But then the young man left before anyone on the medical staff saw him.

Allentown police said their initial investigation indicates the man was not wounded at all. Still, officers would like to talk with him.

"We will continue to look at it as we investigate the gunshot complaint," city Assistant Chief Bill Lake said. "But it's our opinion at this point that the kid was not shot."

At 6:15 p.m., officials issued an alert asking area police to keep an eye out for the disappearing patient.

Police received several reports of gunshots at 14th Street, just north of Linden Street, at 2:39 p.m. Wednesday, Lake said. The young man showed up at Lehigh Valley Hospital at 17th and Chew streets about 5:45 p.m.

The young man, who had a Mohawk haircut, talked outside with a hospital security guard before he went into the emergency room, Lake said.

"The young man said, 'I need to call 911,'" Lake said. "The security guard said, 'What can I do to help you?' The young man said, 'I was shot in the buttocks.'

"The man was not bleeding. He was not limping. There were no obvious signs that he had been shot. But the security guard directed him to go across the street [to the emergency room]. The man waited there a short period of time and then he left."

When police heard about the man's story, detectives investigating the gunshots went to the hospital to talk with the security guard and other witnesses.

"It would not have been surprising that someone showed up there with a gunshot wound, based on the earlier incident," Lake said. "But we're satisfied at this point, based on what the security guard told us, that he was not shot, and the young man may have some mental health issues.